Composting...

From the green book:

"Keep your kitchen scraps from fruits, vegetables and coffee grounds in a composting bin or container. Try adding them to your garden or starting a composting site in the yard. You'll grow a better garden, create deeper topsoil, recycle nutrients and save landfill space. If, over the course of a year, everyone in the United States composted their kitchen scraps instead of sending them away in the trash, the organic waste diverted from landfills could make a three-foot-high compost pile to cover the city of San Fransisco."

OK, I'm making the first one an easy one...at least for me! It will be easy for you too, you'll see! My husband and I have been composting since the beginning of the year. We actually purchased a composting bin (AKA, large plastic box to keep in the corner of the yard) right after Christmas. It was about $40 at Sam's Club. I kept a bowl beside the sink and would throw any food scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, etc. into the bowl. Once it filled up David would take it outside to the bin. This was nice until the warm weather hit. Along with the warmer weather came gnats and fruit flies-YUCK! I searched (and searched) for a canister, cookie jar or anything with a lid that was NOT see-through. I'll be the first to tell you that I wasn't too keen on having (or seeing) rotting food in my immaculate kitchen (ha!). I had no luck. So I figured I would embrace the ugliness of compost and I created the vessel you see above. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it does the job!

Since we have been composting (and recycling), we usually put our trash to the curb with one or two trash bags in it. Plus, I don't feel as bad throwing food out! The final product will also help us save money on potting soil and fertilizers since it will make the soil we already have so much healthier. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Also, let me know if you have any tips for other readers.

For a list of items you can compost, check out this link:
http://www.plantea.com/compost-materials.htm

Like tossing a starfish back into the ocean, you can make a difference by composting.


FYI: Although this is the first "step" in the book, I'm not necessarily going to go in order.

the green book...

Well, I'm doing it. I'm going to try to go green...well, greener. I try my hardest everyday to do what I can to make my womens size 8.5 carbon footprint a little smaller, but I feel I like there's more I can do. More we can all do.

I'll start out telling you a little bit about myself and my amazing life in Nashville. I am a stay-at-home-mom of an awe-inspiring two year old son and a stay-at-home-wife of an amazing husband (that allows me to do whatever my heart desires). I work odd jobs here and there. Those of you that know me know that I have had LOTS of odd jobs here and there. At this point, I am content doing what I do. I book events (from home) for an amazing locally owned restaurant in Nashville. This job allows me to devote all the time I need to my boys. Although I love (with all of my heart) my job(s), I have had this feeling lately that I need to do something else. Something that will make the world my family lives in a little better. Maybe this feeling was brought on by the recent flooding our beautiful city has recently endured. Maybe it's the unfathomable amount of oil spilling into the gulf everyday. Maybe it's because I want my son and his children's children to have a beautiful earth to live and thrive on. Maybe it's all of those reasons and some I haven't even come to realize yet. Whatever it is, I found something that may help me do it.

I was out shopping with my mom the other day and we ran across this book: the green book by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen. I purchased a copy, not knowing how the pages inside were going to move me. I'll be honest. I haven't had much time to read the book yet. I've only perused the pages randomly. What I read got me thinking: how could I do what this book is suggesting (saving the planet one simple step at a time) and perhaps make a difference? BLOG. The answer is always blog. It gets the word out.

Here's what I am thinking: I will post a personal challenge from the book here every two weeks or so. I will try with all that I have to implement this into my life. You can challenge yourself, too, if you'd like. I will blog about my experiences and you can comment on yours. I know already that some of the stuff in the book doesn't apply to me and my life right now, so if you have a specific area you would like more info on please contact me and I'll see what advice the book has to offer. In an effort to save trees and reduce in general I'm offering this to you, BUT if you would like to purchase the book (It's printed on 100% recycled paper) I got it at Kohl's for $2.50. It's a NY Times Bestseller so I am assuming it's readily available on line or at bookstores nationwide.

Stay tuned for the first challenge...